


they persist

by jjjjuicy



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Character Death, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Major Character Injury, Some fluff if you squint, Zombie Apocalypse, but only by two years, if you're looking for fluff though don't read this lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-16 22:26:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21278732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjjjuicy/pseuds/jjjjuicy
Summary: The zombie apocalypse never was a threat.Henry Bowers was. Overbearing parents were. Careless parents were. Teachers were. Grades were.But zombie's weren't.They weren't until they were.





	they persist

**Author's Note:**

> based off of a tweet from twitter user @ sugarnziles . in case you didn't look at the archive warnings, TRIGGER WARNING.

  
The zombie apocalypse never was a threat.

Henry Bowers was. Overbearing parents were. Careless parents were. Teachers were. Grades were.

But zombie's weren't.

They weren't until they were.

First, it had just been Eddie, Richie, Stan, and Bill, until they found Ben, who had been injured after being attacked by a gang of survivors who stole his supplies. He was stripped of his backpack, containing a kitchen knife, food, and nothing else- however, the boys (Eddie was the only one hesitant, insisting that Ben may have been bitten) wanted to help.

They found they didn't have any useful supplies for his wound, but they did find a Beverly. She didn't ave any either, but she had good looks, and sometimes that's all you need to distract desperate, sad old men while the rest of your friends steal everything they can get their hands on.

Beverly was the first of them to kill someone. None of them were surprised it was her.

They had been on two sides of a river, _Henry Bowers _(of all people to survive that long) attacking some random kid who used to be homeschooled before school ceased to exist. Then Beverly was reaching into her bag, pulling out something, aiming, firing, _bang_. Henry dropped.

He did not get back up.

The two boys with him bolted while the others looks at Beverly, all sporting similar looks of surprise. In her hands, she gripped her father's gun. She told them that Henry Bowers was the _second_ person she had killed.

Nobody said anything as she put it away, and nobody said anything as she threw up, and everyone knew that Mike was now one of them the second Beverly had pulled the trigger.

Sometimes, Bill has nightmares. They all do- Stan the most- but it's Bill who talks about his. Stan stays in silent terror, sometimes crying, but never saying what happened. Bill talks about Georgie, about how he wishes he could've protected him, about how he wishes he could find him. Nobody ever mentions that there's no way a seven-year-old could survive alone, but everybody thinks it. Even Bill.

It was apparent to see Stanley was not okay. He was losing sleep, he had bags under his eyes, and he can't stop puking. All of them had gotten used to be covered in blood and dirt, gotten used to the feeling of a the skulls of the dead breaking underneath their weapon, but Stanley hadn't. He cried more. Bill and him slept together at night, but not one person caresd, because Eddie and Richie did the same and so did Bev and Ben, while Mike went on first watch. Then they rotate who went on watch and the sleeping arrangements moved around, but nobody minded at all. They just felt safe.

Eddie wished that he had lived a little before all he could do was survive.

"You got this one?" Bill asked, and jutted his chin out at a lone zombie approaching. Richie turned around, peered through his cracked glasses he learned to live with, and nodded. He had approached the zombie, called it a fuckwad, and hit it once in the head with a bat. It died. Richie looked at it's face and hair- he saw that it might have been a boy before whatever happened happened, and he was only a little sad until he saw his shirt. It was ripped and tattered and dirty and bloody, but it was New Kids on the Block. He could have told that from anywhere.

So he just stared and stared and stared, because Ben likes New Kids. Richie could have just as easily beat in Ben's head with a bat as he did with this boy.

"What's taking so long?" Eddie had asked, approaching with his hands in his pockets. No weapon. Stupid, stupid.

"His shirt."

"What about it?" He responded, his question answered when he saw it. "Oh."

"Could've been Ben."

"But it wasn't."

"Could have been any of us."

"And it could have been me! But that doesn't matter. Because it's not."

Richie blinked at him, eyes sad. "Please don't say that." He slipped his arm around Eddie's waist and pulled him closer- Eddie reacted by wrapping both arms around Richie to hug him, resting his head against his chest. "I don't know what I'd do if it were you."

"You'd survive."

"I don't think I'd want to."

Richie feels Eddie tense up, his head sliding against him to look up at his face. Eddie's eyes are filled with worry. "Richie, don't be stupid. If I died and you killed yourself or something, I'd be fucking pissed, wherever I was."

"I wouldn't kill myself, Eds. I'd just be sad."

"Well, that's good."

"Good?" Richie laughs.

"If I died, you'd better be fucking sad, asshole."

They weren't in a proper battle for a while, but there was a first time for everything. They had a few fights with the zombies, but nothing so overwhelming until a few months into the apocalypse. There had to be at least fifteen for every member of the group.

It was mindless killing, if you could call it killing. It was smashing with bats and slicing with knives and kicking and punching and most of all it was dirty. It was disgusting. Sonia Kaspbrak would've hated it if she hadn't died on the second day.

Eddie Kaspbrak would've hated it if he was still Eddie Kaspbrak. But he didn't know who he was. He knew he was alive. He knew he loved his friends. He knew he loved Richie, and he knew Richie loved him, even if they never said it. Maybe that was all he was. Maybe that was enough for him. He felt the popping of an eyeball as he drove a thin, metal rod into the eye of a zombie that reminds him of the girl who sat next to him in Spanish class. He does not flinch.

Richie had been with Stan, smashing down their respective weapons (a bat and a pipe) down on skulls when Stanley had muttered softly, "Bill." And dashed off.

"Stanley, what the fuck?!"

Stanley had always been soft and quiet, so it was shocking for everyone to hear him screaming as he got torn apart.

Later, after dragging him away while he stammered on the same two letters ("St-St-St-St-St-St-") with tears flowing down his cheeks, Bill would tell them that he had killed all the zombies surrounding him and had paused for a breath for one second ("Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-one!"). He heard the snarl of the three zombies behind him before he saw them. He went to turn around, to kill them, but they were _right there. _They were _touching him, _and then suddenly they weren't: something had crashed into him. It was Stanley, and then they were touching _Stanley, _**oh god, oh god, they're fucking eating him- oh my god, they're tearing him apart-** ("St-St-St-St-St-St-")-** oh god, oh god- THEY'RE _FUCKING EATING HIM ALIVE_**_._

Losing a member had hurt the group to the very core.

But still they persisted.

Ben Hanscom wrote another poem, and Beverly Marsh let her hair grow out. Eddie Kaspbrak didn't mind sleeping on the ground, and Richie Tozier didn't mind that everyone could see him with his arms wrapped protectively him. Mike Hanlon took second watch every night because Bill Denbrough offered to take first.

They persisted. Barely. Food was running out.

Eddie and Richie had woken up in the middle of the night that night and offered to take over watch for Beverly and Mike, who were on duty for second and third watch at the time. They both agreed.

The two sat on a log in front of the fire and talked.

Eddie had said, "Stan... and Bill. They made me think about... about that day we saw the guy in the New Kids shirt."

Richie had replied, "Me, too."

"I want you to know I love you." Eddie whispered, his words so quiet they were almost covered by the crackle of the fire. He places his hand on Richie's. "I think you already know, but you should hear me say it."

"I love you, too." And Richie had kissed him.

The next day, the six teenagers were walking, and a noseless zombie had stumbled out of the trees next to them. Eddie had been on the end, and had gasped, but Richie reacted in time. He pulled Eddie out of the way, hugging him to his chest as Mike killed the shit out of the zombie.

Richie reacted in time.

Richie reacted in time.

Richie reacted in-

Eddie shoves himself off the other boy. "Richie..." He said quietly. A twig snapped under his foot, and at the same time, Richie and all the others saw it.

The bite mark. Right on his upper arm.

Beverly spoke first. "We need to cut your arm off." She stated simply. It was so obvious. Cut or die. Eddie would choose the former, right?

"Oh my god." Ben whispered, turning away and breathing deeply, clapping a hand to his mouth.

"Eddie, we either need to cut your arm off, or kill you, or chain you up, wait until you die, and then kill you again." Beverly continued when Eddie gave no confirmation or protest.

Eddie stayed quiet. Stayed still.

"Eddie!"

Silence.

"Eddie!"

"I need to think!" He finally snapped at Bev, though his eyes hadn't left Richie's since Richie first saw the bite mark.

Bill shook his head. "We don't have time!"

"Should we-" Bev started again at the same time Mike started talking, both prompting Eddie to speak.

"Cut it off!" Richie shouted, silencing the others. He stepped towards Eddie and grabbed the injured arm- avoiding the acutal wound- with two hands.

"You don't get to decide that!" Eddie tugged his arm lightly, not really trying to break away but trying to show that Richie doesn't control him.

"You'd rather die?" He scoffed.

There's a pause, and the anger in Richie fizzled into confusion. Quietly, Eddie reasoned, "I'd just slow you guys down, and I wouldn't be able to fight-"

_"I can't lose you!" _Richie countered, not a scream but much more intense than he needed to be. Eddie actually flinched, causing Richie to let go, but he doesn't change his mind. "Ben, how much rubbing alcohol do we have left?"

"If we... cut his arm off? That would be all of it."

"But we have enough?"

"Not exactly, but we can make do."

They hold Eddie down on the floor of an empty, abandoned gas station, and Richie holds his head locked in place to look at him as **he** **screamed and screamed and screamed and **("Just look at me, just look at me,")** screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed and **("I love you, Eddie. I love you so much.")** screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed and then passed out.**

They persist.

**Author's Note:**

> uhhh this is the first scary thing?? i've ever written so please be nice lol


End file.
